“Crystals” the debut full-length album from Psychedelic Rockers SHAMAN ELEPHANT is streaming in its entirety ahead of its December 9 release date on Karisma Records. The album can be heard at the following:

With a lineup that comprises Eirik Sejersted Vognstølen on vocals and guitar, Jard Hole (LINT) on drums, Ole-Andreas Sæbø Jensen on bass, and Jonas Særsten (ex-TIEBREAKER) on keyboards, SHAMAN ELEPHANT is a band that exudes energy, both in the studio and on stage. And with its heavy riffs, flowing melodies and improvisation, “Crystals” is the perfect debut showcase for the Norwegians, who add elements of Jazz and Prog Rock to their Psychedelic Rock sound, giving it its own distinct individuality.

Artwork for “Crystals” is by Kåre Thomsen. Tracklisting is as follows:

BLACK HOLE GENERTOR, the project of VULTURE INDUSTRIES frontman Bjornar E. Nilsen, has today debuted a video for the track “Moloch” from the band’s new album “A Requiem for Terra” which was released on Dark Essence Records last month. It can be seen at:

The video is by the renowned Romanian artist and designer Costin Chioreanu, with whom Nilsen has a long-standing working relationship not only in terms of album artwork, but also videos and live performance.

Commenting on the video Nilsen said: “I find the video to be a disturbing piece. Costin Chioreanu has dived into the abyss of our collective consciousness and has emerged with images of our destruction. The joint annihilation of all life. Future generations sacrificed upon the altar of Moloch. A massacre of innocents from beyond the womb in the hope that we will be blessed with earthly pleasures in return”.

Of all the tracks on “A Requiem for Terra”, “Moloch” happens to be Nilsen’s favourite, and one which he recently described as acting as the centerpiece for the entire album. It also features a guest appearance from TAAKE and ORKAN guitarist Gjermund Fredheim.

“A Requiem for Terra” is the long-awaited debut full-length album from BLACK HOLE GENERATOR. It follows on from the band’s first ever release, the “Black Karma” MCD, and was ten long years in the making due to Nilsens commitments not only to VULTURE INDUSTRIES, but also to his career as one of Norway’s most successful producers, working with bands such as TAAKE and HELHEIM, as well as being one of the people behind the Dark Essence Records and Karisma Records labels.

It is an album that has delighted many guitar fans with guitarist Arve Isdal (ENSLAVED, AUDREY HORNE) being joined on the album by the previously-mentioned Gjermund Fredheim, who guests on three of the tracks, and Dag Terje Andersen, who provides additional guitars. Artwork for “A Requiem for Terra” is also by Costin Chioreanu, tracklisting is as follows:

Psychedelic Rockers SHAMAN ELEPHANT have today revealed a second track from their debut full-length album Crystals. The track, titled “Shaman in the Woods”, can be heard streaming on the following sites:

Set for release on Karisma Records on the 9th December “Crystals” was recorded at the Solslottet and Duper Studio with producer Iver Sandøy, and is an album full of heavy riffs, flowing melodies and improvisation. There is Psychedelic Rock aplenty, spiced up with Jazz and Prog Rock.

SHAMAN ELEPHANT’s lineup of Eirik Sejersted Vognstølen on vocals and guitar, Jard Hole (LINT) on drums, Ole-Andreas Sæbø Jensen on bass, and Jonas Særsten (ex-TIEBREAKER) on keyboards, describes the album as “A psychedelic flying carpet ride taking you across a diverse musical landscape. Let the Shaman Spell fly you through waterfalls of melting melodies and fields of mastodontic riffs – open your third eye and prepare for the crystallized illusions”

Artwork for “Crystals” is by Kåre Thomsen. Tracklisting is as follows:

The seven-track album was originally intended to mark the band’s tenth anniversary, but was unavoidably delayed due to a series of personal and technical difficulties. “Anti-Cosmic Art” displays the versatility of the Norwegian veterans, ranging, as it does, from Old School Black Metal to more experimental tracks. It is brutally catchy, largely guitar-driven, and the whole is imbued with the crushingly dark sound that SARKOM has made its own.

SARKOM’s choice of guest artists for “Anti-Cosmic Art” is a clear indication of how unafraid the band is to step out of their comfort zone, with appearances from the likes of SHINING’s Peter Huss, Ronni Le Tekrø from TNT and ROQUEFIRE and TROLLFEST’s Sagstad who all contribute to give the album a guitar-driven sound, whilst ALFAHANNE frontman Pehr Skjoldhammer’s distinctive vocals add a completely different dimension to the track “Come, dear Cancer”.

With artwork by Spectrvm Lvsitani, tracklisting for “Anti-Cosmic Art” is as follows:

Previous associates, now as targets for the gun

Mind-abscess

Ruiners of our family tree

Seen through the eyes of a paedophile priest

Come, dear cancer

Black metal necrophilia

Sodomy and lust (Sodom cover).

SARKOM bassist Sgt V will be doing a DJ turn at Kniven in Oslo on the 2nd December, where he will play the whole of “Anti-Cosmic Art” to mark its release. Confirmed upcoming shows for SARKOM:

The news earlier this year that Norwegian frontman Doedsadmiral was forming a new band was greeted with a fair amount of interest, given that this shadowy figure had already created three bands with lineups that include some of the best known and experienced musicians in the extreme metal genres. Bands that have not only gained a large fan base, but have also released critically acclaimed albums, and all within a very short space of time.

And it seems that his new band, DOEDSVANGR, is set to follow in the footsteps of its predecessors. With Shatraug (HORNA, SARGEIST, BEHEXEN and NIGHTBRINGER) and Anti-Christian (TSJUDER, BEATEN TO DEATH) joining the frontman on guitars and drums respectively, the band has inked a deal with the Belgian label Immortal Frost Productions for the release of its first album.

With its debut full-length, which will be titled “Satan Ov Suns”, DOEDSVANGER has created an album, that, according to the band is “very dark work, very evil and with extreme variations, but with a lot of groove”. Drums for “Satans Ov Suns” were recorded at the Oslo Klang studios, Vocals were mixed and mastered at Velvet Recording in Sypdeberg, Norway and Guitars and Bass were recorded in Tampere, Finland. The album will be mixed and mastered by producer Bjarne Stensli. “Satan Ov Suns” is set for release in 2017 at a date as yet to be announced.

Doedsadmiral’s bands have proved to be very popular with fans of the Black Metal genre. NORDJEVEL, which includes current and former members of MARDUK, RAGNAROK, FATAL IMPACT, TVANGESTE and BYRDI, is the first of the bands who has stepped out of the studio and is making an impact on the live scene, whilst SVARTELDER, with current and former members of CARPATHIAN FOREST, IN THE WOODS, DEN SAAKALDTE, PANTHEON I and OLD FOREST, and ENEPSIGOS with current and former members of SARKOM, BLUT AUS NORD, DEATHROW, FIDES INVERSA, FROSTMOON ECLISPE and DARVAZA are still studio-based.

So what does he have in mind for DOEDSVANGR, and why add yet another band to his “portfolio”?

“All my other bands each have a different sound and musical ethos one from the other, and DOEDSVANGR is one that comes from a much darker direction. DOEDSVANGR, like the other projects in which I’m involved, does not come from me alone, but is the result of two great musicians coming onboard so that together we can create music the way we all want it to sound, and perform it in a way that we all want to hear it. Will DOEDSVSANGR perform live one day? That remains to be seen, let’s just see where the album takes us first.

“Why another band? Why not? I’ve been a fan of Black Metal, and all it’s different forms, for as long as I can remember. In fact, it was just the other day that I was saying to my manager, Patricia Thomas, that it has been twelve years since she and I first started talking about doing what I’m doing right now. Whilst many say that I do have some skill as a vocalist, I certainly don’t class myself as a brilliant musician, or writer, or anything even close to it come to that. But I have been fortunate enough to have the means that allow me to create different bands within the Extreme genre and bring together different artists, exceptional artists at that, for whom I have long had an enormous respect, and whose skills and experience fortunately more than make up for my own shortcomings. It’s that “bringing together” of these superb artists and allowing them free reign with what they do musically, that is, and always will be, the crux of what I do. Am I living the dream? Yes, most definitely! Do I work hard at all aspects of it? You bet I do! Will there be more to come in the future? Just watch this space!”

“Crystals” will be the first full-length album from the Norwegians, whose previous release was the three-track EP “More”. Whilst there is no doubt that SHAMAN ELEPHANT’s sound, replete with heavy riffs, flowing melodies and a good dose of improvisation, fits easily into the Psychedelic Rock genre, it is the additional elements of Jazz and Prog Rock that makes their music just that little bit different.

Recorded at the Solslottet and Duper Studio with producer Iver Sandøy, and with artwork by Kåre Thomsen, tracklisting for “Crystals” is as follows:

Crystals

Shaman in the Woods

I.A.B.

Tusko

The Jazz

Stoned Conceptions

SHAMAN ELEPHANT’s lineup of Eirik Sejersted Vognstølen on vocals and guitar, Jard Hole (LINT) on drums, Ole-Andreas Sæbø Jensen on bass, and Jonas Særsten (ex-TIEBREAKER) on keyboards, are known for the energy they exude both in the studio and on stage. They also have a pretty good idea of what people can expect from the new album, as they rather intriguingly explain “Crystals” is a psychedelic flying carpet ride taking you across a diverse musical landscape. Let the Shaman Spell fly you through waterfalls of melting melodies and fields of mastodontic riffs – open your third eye and prepare for the crystallized illusions”

With the release date for CREST OF DARKNESS’ seventh full-length album “Welcome the Dead” having been brought forward to the 25th November, the band has released a video for the title track. Directed by Anders Børresen for MONITORmeda, the video for “Welcome the Dead” can be seen below and on CREST OF DARKNESS’ YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/4jxLXUPRLyI

xCommenting on the video, founder and frontman Ingar Amlien had this to say: “We wanted to make a video that offers a glimpse into the dark world of CREST OF DARKNESS. Perhaps we are just story tellers recounting a fairytale, and the video can certainly be viewed and enjoyed at that level, but we are also touching on aspects of Life itself and those eternal questions that people ask themselves about life and death and the meaning of it all.

“We might not have all the answers, and in all honesty we don’t even want to pretend that we do, but what we do want is to make people think for themselves, and find their own answers . Let’s face it, we are all Gods. Each of us builds their own universe, and it just happens that the world of CREST OF DARKNESS is my universe”.

Recorded at the at MLP Studio by Nils H. Mæhlum, and mastered at the Kvålsonic Lab by Tom Kvålsvoll, the nine-track album promises to be the heaviest, darkest and most introspective album in the band’s twenty plus year history. It will be released on My Kingdom Music in both CD and Digital formats, as well as a double LP format which will feature a special bonus track.

With artwork that features the strange and disturbing Zombie Foetus sculptures created by the Italian artist Andrea Falaschi, tracklisting on “Welcome the Dead” is as follows:

“Welcome the Dead” includes a guest appearance by Norwegian actor Espen Reboli Bjerke, well known for his extensive work in films, theatre, radio and Television. Bjerke, who also won a Spelleman Award, the Norwegian equivalent of the Grammies, performs the spoken part on “Katharsis”, the closing track on the album.

Amlien, whose illustrious musical history started with the legendary CONCPTION, and includes ROQUEFIRE and AMLIEN’s INFERNO, confirms that “Welcome the Dead” has a particular significance for him: ” I’ve put a hell of a lot of myself and my emotions into this album, even more so than usual. I’ve always felt that when we are on stage, we create a sort of magic, and this time we have been able to transfer that magic to the recordings. You could say this is my personal Black Mass”.

CREST OF DARKNESS’ lineup of Amlien on bass and vocals, Rebo on guitars, Bernhard (ex- PALE FOREST) on drums, and Kristian Wentzel on keyboards, will celebrate the release of “Welcome the Dead” with a show special Friday the 13th show at Retro in Raufoss, Norway in January.

Dark Essence Records have announced that the 20th January has been set for the release of “landawarijaR” the much-anticipated ninth full-length album from Norwegian Viking Metallers HELHEIM.

“landawarijaR” will contain seven tracks, all of which bear the hallmarks of HELHEIM’s traditional Norse heritage. A Heritage of which they are rightly proud and to which they have remained true, eschewing the temptation to turn themselves into the Viking parodies that so many bands have espoused. With “landawarijaR” HELHEIM use their lyrics to express the need to include the Norse Heritage into modern life by emphasising the importance, mystery and never-changing wonder of the Runes.

Just as HELHEIM’s “raunijaR” followed in the same vein as its predecessor “Asgards Fall”, “landawarijaR” continues where “Heidindomr” ended. All four albums incorporate the use of Timpani and Horns, and the new album also has a number of artists performing guest vocals including William Hut, Morten Egeland (NARROWHEAD), Pehr Skjoldhammer (ALFAHANNE), Bjornar E Nilsen (VULTURE INDUSTRIES, BLACK HOLE GENERATOR) and Ottorpedo.

With music by by H’grimnir and V’gandr, lyrics by V’gandr and artwork by H’grimnir, “landawarijaR” was recorded at the Conclave and Earshot Studios in Bergen, and produced by Bjornar E. Nilsen (VULTURE INDUSTRIES, BLACK HOLE GENERATOR) and mastered by Herbrand Larsen (ENSLAVED).

HELHEIM recently announced that two songs from the album were being turned into videos by Guilherme Henriques, who is both producing and directing the videos. ‘Ymr’ and ‘Baklengs mot intet’ are the songs that been chosen because, as the band explained, they are “neatly intertwined into a dualism which Guillherme will portray”. The videos are expected to be debuted in the run-up to the release of “landawarijaR”.

A series of stills from the video shoot by the photographer Mathis Backe of Yggdrasil Photo (http://yggdrasilphoto.net ), and featuring HELHEIM’s lineup of Vgandr on bass and vocals, Hgrimnir on rhythm guitar and vocals, Noralf on rhythm and lead guitar and Hrymr on drums and programming , were recently published, and can be seen on HELHEIM’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/helheimnorway

The official video of the track “Dualitet og Ulver” which features a guest appearance from TAAKE’s Hoest, from HELHEIM’s ”Heiðindómr ok mótgangr” album can be seen below and at http://youtu.be/P_fw_nsSHeA

December can’t come fast enough for the legions of SARKOM fans who have been waiting for the release of the band’s fourth full-length album “Anti-Cosmic Art”. Having previously given us a taste from the album, Dark Essence Records is now ready with a second track to whet everyone’s appetite further. The track, “Previous associates, now as targets for the gun” can be heard streaming on YouTube at the following links.

Veterans of the Norwegian Black Metal scene, SARKOM are known for their crushingly dark sound, and with the brutally catchy “Anti-Cosmic Art” album, the band produce more of the same, but this time they also show that far from being afraid to step out of their comfort zone, they happily embrace the idea and take their listeners on a journey that ranges from Old School Black Metal through to more experimental tracks.

Even the choice of guest artists indicates how versatile the band’s music can be, with appearances from the likes of SHINING’s Peter Huss, Ronni Le Tekrø from TNT and ROQUEFIRE and TROLLFEST’s Sagstad who all contribute to give “Anti-Cosmic Art” a guitar-driven sound, as well as ALFAHANNE frontman Pehr Skjoldhammer whose distinctive vocals add a completely different dimension to the track “Come, dear Cancer”.

With artwork by Spectrvm Lvsitani, tracklisting for “Anti-Cosmic Art” is as follows:

Previous associates, now as targets for the gun

Mind-abscess

Ruiners of our family tree

Seen through the eyes of a paedophile priest

Come, dear cancer

Black metal necrophilia

Sodomy and lust (Sodom cover)

To mark the release of “Anti-Cosmic Art” SARKOM will play the following two Norwegian dates:

With four days remaining to the release of BLACK HOLE GENERATOR’s “A Requiem for Terra” Dark Essence Records have revealed a second track from the album. Their choice of track this time is “Moloch”, and it can be heard streaming at the following

BLACK HOLE GENERATOR’s creator Bjornar E. Nilsen had this to say about the track “Moloch was one of the first tracks that was finalized for the album. It is one of my personal favourites from “A Requiem for Terra” and it acts as the centerpiece for the album. It embodies the album’s bleak atmosphere which spans most of its dynamic range. Starting off as a mesmerizing hymn to the deity Moloch, it is broken up by frantic, furious parts tearing everyone from their mantric slumbers. On this track I was lucky to get Gjermund from TAAKE and ORKAN on board on lead guitars, and his contribution really shines on this one!”

It’s been ten years since the appearance of BLACK HOLE GENERATOR’S debut release, the “Black Karma” MCD, and given Nilsen’s standing not only as VULTURE INDUSTRIES’ frontman, well known for his idiosyncratic vocals and eccentric stage performances, but also as one of Norway’s most successful producers, working with bands such as TAAKE and HELHEIM, as well as one of the people behind the Dark Essence Records and Karisma Records labels, the delay is hardly surprising.

“A Requiem for Terra”, will delight many guitar fans with guitarist Arve Isdal (ENSLAVED, AUDREY HORNE) being joined on the album by the previously-mentioned Gjermund Fredheim, who guests on three of the tracks, and Dag Terje Andersen, who provides additional guitars. Artwork for “A Requiem for Terra” is by the Romanian artist and designer Costin Chioreanu, tracklisting is as follows: